The 115th Canton Fair came to an end in Guangzhou on the 5th. Official statistics show that the number of overseas buyers participating in this Canton Fair and the export volume both declined month-on-month and year-on-year, reflecting the current severe situation of China’s foreign trade.
The Canton Fair is known as the “barometer” and “wind vane” of China’s foreign trade. In the first quarter of 2014, China’s total import and export value was 5.9 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%. This session of the Canton Fair opened against the backdrop of this not-so-beautiful data, which aroused the attention of all parties.
Liu Jianjun, spokesman for the Canton Fair and deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center, revealed on the 5th that there were approximately 188,000 overseas purchasers participating in this Canton Fair, a decrease of 0.81% compared with the 114th session and a decrease of 7.23% compared with the 113th session. Data show that at this Canton Fair, buyers from Asia accounted for more than 55% of all buyers, and Europe and the United States accounted for more than 30%. Compared with the previous session, the number of African buyers increased by nearly 30%, making them the fastest-growing group of buyers.
The cumulative export transactions of this Canton Fair were 191.184 billion yuan (equivalent to 31.051 billion U.S. dollars), a month-on-month decrease of 2% (excluding exchange rate fluctuations), and a year-on-year decrease of 12.64%. Among them, transactions with the EU, Japan, and the United States decreased by 1.3% and 7.93% month-on-month respectively, an increase of 0.72%, and decreased by 9.44% and 4.69% respectively year-on-year, with an increase of 2.45%; for the “BRICS” countries (India, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa) The month-on-month increase was 5.11%, and the year-on-year decrease was 12.96%; the month-on-month decrease for ASEAN was 15.26%, and the year-on-year decrease was 18.31%.
Liu Jianjun said frankly that the number of buyers and transaction volume both declined slightly. Such data is not gratifying, but it is “reasonable.” He said this reflects the slow recovery of the global economy, especially the weak recovery of traditional markets in Europe and the United States, and the continued weakness of demand in emerging markets.
Export transactions at this Canton Fair are still dominated by short and medium orders, with long orders accounting for a low proportion. Short orders within 3 months account for more than half, medium orders from 3 to 6 months account for more than 30%, and long orders over 6 months. Just over 10%.
“The dominance of short- and medium-term orders has been the norm for export transactions at the Canton Fair in recent years, and is also a reflection of the current international market trends.” Liu Jianjun said that overseas buyers are generally cautious when placing orders. Many Chinese companies are affected by exchange rate fluctuations, rising raw material prices, rising labor costs, and international Affected by factors such as trade friction, we dare not accept large or long-term orders. He believes that the phenomenon of short-term orders dominating export transactions at the Canton Fair will be difficult to reverse in the short term.
It is worth noting that the brand exhibition area of this Canton Fair has active transactions, accounting for more than 30% of the total transaction volume; high value-added products with independent brands, advanced design concepts, and continuous technological innovation have better transactions. During interviews at the Canton Fair, reporters also found that more and more Chinese companies realize that accelerating transformation and upgrading and cultivating new advantages in foreign trade competition are inevitable choices for their future survival and development.
Looking forward to China’s foreign trade development goals for 2014, Liu Jianjun said that although China’s current foreign trade situation is severe, there are also many positive conditions, including the overall recovery of the world economy, which is conducive to the stabilization and improvement of China’s exports; the improvement of Chinese product quality and brand awareness , has stronger market competitiveness; a series of policies and measures issued by the Chinese government to support foreign trade development have been continuously implemented to stabilize corporate confidence.
